This private retreat will change the way you holiday in Bali

With a recording studio, a nightclub and a jungle gym, Gilligan’s Island meets Lenny Kravitz at this playground for grown-ups.

Words by Ute Junker

Photos supplied

A longer version of this story first appeared in the Australian Financial Review.

Logan Bailey doesn’t look like a magician. With his laidback attitude and his eye-catching looks, you might pick him as a surf instructor or a model (which was actually one of his past gigs). Yet the retreat that this 41-year-old entrepreneur has unveiled at Candidasa, along a quiet stretch of Bali’s east coast, is as dazzling as the cleverest conjuring trick.

At first glance, there is a distinctly rustic vibe to The Seed, Bailey’s four-villa exclusive-use estate. There are stepping-stone pathways, boulders that double as steps. wooden ladders leading up to the treehouse suspended in the canopy. Organic shapes and natural materials abound, including recycled wood and silvery slate.

It looks like a jungly seaside village where Tarzan might go on holiday, and I’m reminded of the surprisingly-stylish set-up the castaways on 1960s’ TV hit Gilligans Island fashioned for themselves. (The wooden weights in the gym are straight out of another ‘60s favourite, The Flintstones.)

Yet The Seed is actually a high-tech, high-touch hideaway, with features including a state-of-the-art recording studio that doubles as a private nightclub, a poolside cinema, a yoga shala and a hot-and-cold-therapy centre.

That’s not the only way The Seed challenges expectations. Designed as a private estate, it nonetheless maintains a resort-like feel, thanks in part to the spread-out design and in part to the fleet of staff that caters to every need. It’s a tropical haven that ticks every box and, remarkably, it was created by someone who not only had no hospitality background, but who wasn’t even planning to get into the business.

“When I started, I was creating something for my family,” says Bailey, an American who has been based in Bali since falling in love with the island in 2007. Having snapped up the last oceanfront parcel of land in Candidasa, the advent of COVID got him thinking about how his family might survive should the pandemic drag on. A private estate with its own mini-farm seemed the answer.

Things took a turn, as things often do, and Bailey decided that the complex he was building would make a fine holiday spot for groups of families and friends. Smart enough to know what he didn’t know, he roped in the help of local experts. Bailey’s mentor, Bali-based architect Martin Friedrich, reached out to his network of traditional craftsmen. Their skills are seen throughout the resort, from the woven “nest” in which the treehouse rests to the delicate carvings on the windowsills.

No trees were removed during construction, and the team focused on re-use and upcycling. When a fallen tree blocked one of the nearby roads, they sought permission from locals and then used the trunk to create their bar.

The two-bedroom villas are made of wood recycled from traditional Javanese jonglo houses and mimic their shape, albeit on a grander scale than you would find in any Javanese village. The menu draws on Balinese cuisine as well as more international influences and uses organic produce grown in the estate’s permaculture gardens. It was put together by chef Dom Marquez-Hammond, who helmed the acclaimed vegan offering at Potatohead in Seminyak.

“I wanted to have healthy food that makes you feel good eating it,” Bailey says. “We looked for organic ingredients, sustainable ingredients.” Alongside dishes such as chili crab scrambled eggs, lemongrass chicken noodles, tuna poke bowls and an ancient grain salad, the menu features terrific juices, granitas and nutritious smoothies.

Perhaps the hardest decision is which villa to choose as your own. The elegant Villa Eywa has a glass-floored living area is suspended above a private pool, while Villa Rabbit Hole has murals on the wall and a living room with its own speakeasy-style bar, as well as a pool table, darts, and other games.

Villa Underground, spread across three separate buildings, has a distinctly rock n roll vibe. The two sleeping villas are named Platinum and Gold, after the discs traditionally awarded for high record sales.

The gold villa is particularly striking: the bed is round, the walls are painted gold and have classic LP covers hanging on them. (Yes, the vinyl discs can be played on the in-room record player.) The living room continues the rock theme, with a design Bailey says was inspired by Lenny Kravitz’s Brazilian home.

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